Doug Jolley makes rookie impact

Oakland Raiders' rookie tight end Doug Jolley has gone from having his contributions being a bonus to vital.

Jolley was one of the Raiders' two second-round draft choices along with tackle Roland Williams.

Brigham (hamstring) and Fulcher (knee) are now on injured reserve. Brigham was placed there after the final exhibition game while Fulcher suffered that fate several weeks ago, making Jolley's role more crucial with Marcus Williams occupying the No. 3 hole.

"There's a little more pressure to develop quicker and be able to produce in the games," Jolley said. "I look forward to coming out and getting more reps in practice and in the games."

Jolley has caught 32 passes for 409 yards and two TD's. Interestingly enough, Jolley missed a significant portion of training camp with a groin injury and did not play until Oakland's third exhibition game against San Francisco.

"I felt I was getting further behind in training camp," Jolley said. "I missed probably half of training camp. I've been playing catch up ever since then. While I was injured, I tried to keep up on film with (tight ends) coach (Jay) Norvell. He made sure I was learning the plays. Hopefully, I'm not too far behind."

Jolley's involvement as a receiver has been critical late in the regular season. Oakland has thrown 104 passes in the last two games while frequently employing empty backfield looks. Being a Brigham Young grad, however, Jolley is used to offenses going to the air to beat teams.

"(Raiders' head) coach (Bill Callahan) is doing a great job of scouting out the defenses and putting in formations and plays that work according to the defense we're playing," Jolley said. "That's a great credit to coach Callahan and (Oakland offensive coordinator Marc) Trestman."